Olympics in Milano‑Cortina: Klæbo and Lægreid misused in advertising — 'Serious'

Aleris used Olympic footage and images of Sturla Holm Lægreid and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in social‑media posts to promote the company's services. The posts — which referenced an NRK interview with Lægreid and showed pictures from the sprint where Klæbo won gold — drew immediate criticism and were later removed.

The company posted questions such as “Was it wrong of biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid to admit infidelity at the Olympic arena?” and captioned other posts “Sports physician explains the Klæbo jump,” linking editorial material to Aleris’ offers in mental health and sports medicine.

Olympiatoppen’s press chief Halvor Lea told NRK that using athletes’ names and images without permission is misuse of athletes’ rights and marketing rights. He emphasized that marketing around the Olympic period is strictly regulated and referred to IOC rules (including Rule 40) that limit commercial use of athletes during the Games.

Team Klæbo and Lægreid both confirm they have no commercial partnerships with Aleris. Lasse Gimnes, Klæbo’s adviser, said Team Klæbo has not collaborated with Aleris and that any decisions about follow‑up would be considered after the Olympics. Lægreid also confirmed he had no commercial ties to the company, and NIF’s marketing department is following up the case.

NRK contacted IOC about the posts. IOC’s media team replied that athletes control and own rights to their images and that unauthorised use can trigger reactions by the athletes; they referred to Olympic advertising rules but did not comment specifically on this incident.

NRK’s sports editor Espen Olsen Langfeldt criticized Aleris for using NRK’s editorial material in commercial posts. After NRK raised the issue with Aleris’ CEO, the company removed the posts and issued an apology. Aleris’ communications director Gro Bogen Nilsen said the posts were the result of ‘OL‑fever’ and that videos were removed as soon as they were made aware of the mistake.

NRK notes that it is common during major championships for commercial actors without rights to try to exploit athletes’ images, and that the problem appears to be increasing. The story is being followed up by Norwegian sports authorities and demonstrates the strict rules around commercial use of Olympic images and athletes during Games time.